I am finally at home after picking up my 04 CL. The car was park in a garage, under the garage door mechanism. Unfortunately, there are bits of rusted metal that end up falling on top of the car, on the trunk. So now I have about 10-15 tiny dots, maybe 1-2mm of rust. I can see some of it has little rusty metal, others seems like rust stain. I can try taking picture with my SLR if that helps.

Any thoughts on how to remove these stain, including the little tiny metal without doing more harm to the paint? Appreciate any help!

 

Search “clay bar”

 

 

Hit it with the wheel cleaner that turns red first, y'know, that stuff that stinks to high heaven. Then gently rub it off with the clay bar

 

I would use this product from Adams Polishes called "iron remover" spray the car with this and then wash it and clay bar should be able to take off all the contaminants including the rust spots. Apply wax or sealant after to help protect it for the future. Good luck

 

Iron X will take care of that. Spray it on it will turn purple and rinse it off. Wear gloves and mask.

 

Meguiars G1016 clay bar took care of this problem!

 

Good to know.. I have a similar issue with the 2005 on the driver's door.

I'll give the Clay Bar a shot

 

Be a little careful....I have moonlight pearl too, btw!

I have always been able to get away with removing "anything" as long as it didn't cut into the clear, on all our cars. and 3/4 are pearl. Examples are a panhandler dug his handle into my Maxima and put a long red mark on a white car--Meguiars cleaner wax took it right out. My wife's SUV got scraped at pre-school (those parents are pretty nuts), and she was aghast, gonna call cops and accuse another parent (there have been incidents of hit/run). It was very bad but I managed to get all the black scuff out with, you guessed it, Meguiars cleaner wax.

I have this razor thin scratch on the LS430, front driver's door, and it runs parallel to the ground. I leave that alone. It is white, meaning clear and top coats are gone. If I were to touch it with the top coat, it will make the line bigger. This is what YOU DON"T WANT.

So as long as there is no cut into the clear coat, you'll be fine. Try to make sure there isn't any material on the car when you go to clay or polish or cleaner wax it. I'd just use a microfiber and plenty of water. You just don't want to grind anything into the paint. Then I am pretty confident what you have will come off.

edit p.s. I had never used a clay bar until I think 2 yrs. ago? It is a lot of work, but gets very good results. I have gotten artillery fungus spores on my wife's car because of the stupid neighbor's mulch. Those are those little black dots that become super sticky and smear when attempting to remove. Even cleaner wax could not remove--clay bar did with TONS of work. I finally discovered that if you get those fungus spores when they just hit the car, they "can" come off with simply microfiber and water....terrible. They can survive power washing and a car wash, no joke. Also, I used to think my wife's GM car had super cheap paint, it felt rough. After clay? It was as smooth as the BMW...

 

I will second iron-x less likely to leave scratches than clay bars and will remove tiny rust spots.

 

Do you mean a clay bar leaves scratches, because of what it's trying to remove? Not the clay itself, right?

 

Is that what it is.... I had notice those suckers in my car a while back. I thought my wife parked under some tree (although could not figure out what tree does this - I was going to go and cut it down lmao). Gosh those things are PITA to clean up.

 

Any time you physically touch your paint you risk the chance of scratches. Especially if you have to rub something on it. Not saying clay will scratch your paint but it increases the likelihood. Clay works but I prefer iron-x less chance of scratching.

 

Bingo! They are spores from a fungus that lives in mulch. Apparently the only solution is to throw the mulch away.

I thought they were tiny bird droppings or insects or something? And oddly, it seems that Penn State University is the expert on it, and I happen to live in PA by coincidence--dunno if that means it's worse here. The spores shoot 20' in the air. Again, I've found if you get them maybe within a week or a few days, with water and a microfiber cloth they can be removed. After that, it's a sticky mess, and yes a clay bar can get them but it's a lot of work as they smear....I hear if they get on the siding of a house, forget it, power washing won't take them off (can't even imagine wiping a house down by hand)....

 

Just use a mild rubbing compound. You would have to rub constantly for an hour to rub thru the clear coat. Just try rubbing out a minor scuff or scratch to find that out.